Picking where you want to go to college is a really big step in life, but visiting Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLG) in Missouri these past five days has really given me the idea of what I need to look for in a college.

The first night that I arrived at the school, I was really nervous. I was scared that I wasn’t going to get along with the girls because they were a lot older and more mature than me. They had all known each other for about three years, and had been practicing together for about two months.

After the first night, I started to loosen up and started talking to the girls. I became friends with a player, Ashley Collier, who is a center back on the defensive line. She is a junior at HLG, and she got to show me around the campus and what the life of a college student really felt like.

Practicing with the group of girls was really different then a normal practice because, of course, I was nervous. I had the mindset that I was going to make dumb little mistakes and look like a fool in front of the coach and all of these college girls. I did a lot better than I planned. My ball skill was great, and every cross I had when right to the six-yard line right in front of the goal.

After practice, we got ready for a team bonding dinner. For dinner that night we had pasta with red and white sauce, salad, and garlic bread. The trip to Walmart for all the items for dinner took a lot longer than we thought. Two teammates were being old ladies and were riding around the store on motorized shopping carts. So, the trip wasn’t just a 10 minute stop. We got a lot more pasta then we needed. We had so much left over that we started feeding the rest of the Lewis & Brown dorm.

On game day, I really got to feel like I was a part of the team by going to breakfast at the County Kitchen. After breakfast we went back to HLG and started to head to the training room so some of the girls could get taped and rolled out/massaged before they headed to the locker room. While in the locker, they got dressed for the game and also had a prayer. We prayed for a minute for the girls to have a clean and safe game. During the game a couple of girls did get hit and got some bruises, but they played hard until the last whistle was blown. They defeated William Baptist, 2-0.

Going to visit this school was the best choice I made. I got to see what the life of a college student is like and what to get ready for. It made me realize that even if the school is small, it is a better place to go because the teachers at the school don’t think of you just as a number. Professors know you by name and the largest class is about 30 students, which would be for an English class. Everyone needs to take some time out of the school year to visit colleges, so you have an idea of what it is like when it is time to apply.